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212:, called the Culion leper Colony. Because of delays construction did not start until 1905 and the first 370 patients began to be transported to the island on May 27, 1906. At a point there were 3,000 workers, over 5,000 patients, and including 200 doctors on the island. The island had become known as the
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Heiser was a survivor of the horrific and catastrophic
Johnstown flood. Prior to that day he wanted to be a watch maker in town. He was in his family's barn when he glanced toward the house and noticed his father at a second story window frantically gesturing at him to climb to the roof of the barn.
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Johnstown and he was able to jump on other debris. The pile caught fire and became a funeral pyre. Victor had jumped onto some debris that dislodged and he floated down the river again finally jumping yet again on to a house where he spent the night in the attic with 19 other survivors. He lost
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He did so in time. The flood swept away his family home and barn. He survived by riding the flood wave downstream on the roof of the barn and jumping from the barn onto the roof of a building that was floating by. The building collided with debris that piled up on the
152:. Heiser was fluent in several languages. After joining the Public Health Service, he soon was screening immigrants for infectious diseases at Ellis Island and in Italy. He implemented public health programs to combat
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Victor was born to George Heiser (1836–1889) and
Mathilde Lorentz Heiser (1849–1889), and there was a sister Johanna Heiser (1870–1874), that died at four years of age.
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182:", built the public-health system for the American colonial government in the Philippines between 1903 and 1915 and later worked for the Rockefeller Foundation.
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298:(August 13, 1909): Public Health Reports (1896–1970); Published by: Association of Schools of Public Health Vol. 24, No. 33, pp. 1155–1159 (5 pages)
262:. The program provides funding research for leprosy and other related diseases. In 2015 funding was appropriated for those seeking funding for research.
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Heiser worked to find a cure for leprosy while treating many other diseases in the process. He is credited with saving as many as two million lives.
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his family in the flood, becoming an orphan at sixteen, and his family's store was destroyed. He helped for several with the recovery and cleanup.
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Heiser married a wealthy widow, Marion
Peterson Phinny, and they divided their time between New York and Connecticut until her death in 1965.
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After graduating medical school Heiser, with interest in leprosy, became the
Philippine director of Health. In this capacity he also ran the
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in
September 1898. On October 27, 1902, Heiser became the Philippine Director of Health and took over authority for establishing a
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and traveled the world many times over. He kept journals, wrote memoirs, reports, and was the author of several books.
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as
Medical Director (1922 to 1959) and the colony was finally reinstated into the population in 1998.
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Victor G. Heiser, "Leprosy in the
Philippine Islands," Public Health Report, 24 (August 13, 1909)
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Heiser died on
February 27, 1972, and was buried at the Grandview Cemetery in Johnstown.
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in 1918. He was an eyewitness source to historian David McCullough for his 1968 book, "
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280:(1939): 300 pages; New York, W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. (J.Cape in London)
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Heiser went on to graduate from the
Jefferson Medical College (now,
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Willing Captives: American Doctors and Leprosy in the Philippines
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An American Doctor's Odyssey: Adventures in Forty-Five Countries
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352:- p.31-35: by Karen Ivory; 2007, Morris Book Publishing.
172:, leprosy, and other afflictions. He was elected to the
401:Survivor of Johnstown flood left global footprint
320:(1989); "100 years ago" (Johnstown flood of 1889)
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97:(February 5, 1873 – February 27, 1972) was born
526:Members of the American Philosophical Society
292:(1941) :New York, London, Whittlesey House
256:The Heiser Program for Research in Leprosy
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254:After Heiser died his will established
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331:History of the Philippines (1898–1946)
470:A True History of the Johnstown Flood
521:People from Johnstown, Pennsylvania
218:Governor-General of the Philippines
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443:- p.37: Retrieved January 4, 2016.
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440:Pennsylvania Disasters
350:Pennsylvania Disasters
284:Rockefeller Foundation
216:. Heiser served under
506:American leprologists
381:search.amphilsoc.org
377:"APS Member History"
290:Toughen up, America!
225:Herbert Windsor Wade
99:Victor George Heiser
473:: By Rebecca Gilman
426:Peregrina's Journey
214:Island of No Return
200:Culion leper colony
179:The Johnstown Flood
453:NY community Trust
363:"Survivor Stories"
16:American physician
278:You're the doctor
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125:leper Colony
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75:(1972-02-27)
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501:1972 deaths
496:1873 births
286:(1915–1934)
210:leprosarium
206:Philippines
194:Philippines
490:Categories
386:October 2,
337:References
317:Boys' Life
186:Early life
87:, New York
46:1873-02-05
131:Biography
103:Johnstown
54:Johnstown
325:See also
234:Marriage
170:beriberi
154:smallpox
81:Brooklyn
312:"Flood"
258:within
166:malaria
162:cholera
274:(1936)
250:Legacy
158:plague
122:Culion
242:Death
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